A relative of mine decided to tell me all about bonsai today.

[Oddly_Aude]

Apparently they're super hard, need to get dunked in water daily and misted. Also if you miss a day, they die on the spot. All of them, from ficus to junipers.

...

Ummm... I know I'm a newbie to bonsai, but that sounds... mildly incorrect. To say the least.

I love her dearly, but yeesh. Guess I'll start misting my juniper daily XD. I'm guessing her next piece of advice would be to bring my poor juniper in from the cold!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Best to listen to advice of those who have trees you admire…

 

[Oddly_Aude]

No kidding! I nearly burst out laughing as she was talking.

 

[BrianBay9]

The biggest risk of a relative starting to tell you about bonsai is that they'll never stop talking. My wife always adds the disclaimer, "when you've had enough of this just turn a walk away"

 

[Oddly_Aude]

The biggest risk of a relative starting to tell you about bonsai is that they'll never stop talking. My wife always adds the disclaimer, "when you've had enough of this just turn a walk away"

The fun part is, they're like this on every topic. There is no walking away!

 

[Shibui]

It's nowhere near as bad now as 20 years ago.
Whenever we put on a bonsai show there would be people telling their kids or friends all sorts of 'fake news' about how bonsai were developed and kept. Sometimes 4 or 5 each day!
Sometimes we'd try to correct the misinformation but often just roll the eyes and turn away because it seems that people like that can't be told anyway.
Now we only seem to get one person like that over a whole weekend so things have definitely improved.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

It's nowhere near as bad now as 20 years ago.
Whenever we put on a bonsai show there would be people telling their kids or friends all sorts of 'fake news' about how bonsai were developed and kept. Sometimes 4 or 5 each day!
Sometimes we'd try to correct the misinformation but often just roll the eyes and turn away because it seems that people like that can't be told anyway.
Now we only seem to get one person like that over a whole weekend so things have definitely improved.

What kind of bonsai 'conspiracies' were making the rounds 20yrs ago?

 

[Shibui]

What kind of bonsai 'conspiracies' were making the rounds 20yrs ago?

A few times I heard bonsai compared to Chinese women's feet - bound up tight so they can't grow properly.

'They cut the roots to keep the trees small.'
'The wires stop them from growing.'
'Starvation keeps them small.'

Many would feel sad for the poor little trees. Some wanted to set them free.

 

[RoadManDenDron]

There was a member of the public at one of our club shows last year looking at each tree in turn and loudly exclaiming 'well that's not a bonsai'

She got more irate as each tree failed to meet her criteria

I was dying to ask her what is a bonsai, but I think I found my answer when she seemed quite happy with the mame display.

I often regret not asking for her definition, but I prefer the path of least resistance and I'm sure I wouldn't have changed her mind.

 

[Oddly_Aude]

A few times I heard bonsai compared to Chinese women's feet - bound up tight so they can't grow properly.

'They cut the roots to keep the trees small.'
'The wires stop them from growing.'
'Starvation keeps them small.'

Many would feel sad for the poor little trees. Some wanted to set them free.

You know, they're wrong, but I get where they're coming from in a ridiculously misguided way!

 

[Oddly_Aude]

There was a member of the public at one of our club shows last year looking at each tree in turn and loudly exclaiming 'well that's not a bonsai'

She got more irate as each tree failed to meet her criteria

I was dying to ask her what is a bonsai, but I think I found my answer when she seemed quite happy with the mame display.

I often regret not asking for her definition, but I prefer the path of least resistance and I'm sure I wouldn't have changed her mind.

She was playing 3D chess. I'm sure of it.

 

[rockm]

Best to smile. Nod and accept you probably aren’t going to make any difference in their belief. One of the myths waaaay back when was the Japanese grew the roots of bonsai in an orange peel and removed all the roots that grew outside of the peel. Also a still common belief is that we’re torturing trees even though nature does mostly the same things to them. Trees ability to adapt to natures random acts is why bonsai is possible.

There is no real effective explanation for some people about bonsai though. Some will want to an actually learn what bonsai is and those that are happy in their ignorance. Can’t fix stupid…

 

[Bonsai Nut]

'They cut the roots to keep the trees small.'
'The wires stop them from growing.'
'Starvation keeps them small.'

These were common when I was starting in the hobby... though I was fortunate that my mother (who introduced me to the art) was a little more wise. I remember her saying that in nature, trees like to be in balance, with their root mass balanced with their foliage mass. If you limit the space the roots can grow in, you will limit how much foliage the tree will produce, and how fast it will produce it. To this day, I'm not even 100% certain where she learned this... it was the 1970's.